"These projects have a built-in global audience in music fans," says IM Global CEO Stuart Ford. "They offer obvious marketing advantages." When the music biopic goes right, it can mean gold: Ray made nearly $125 million and won Jamie Foxx an Oscar. Walk the Line took in $186 million and scored best actress for Reese Witherspoon. But adapting a music legend's life is a difficult and sometimes decades-long process.

"Roger Daltrey has been trying to make the Keith Moon film for 20 years; the Janis Joplin project has been around for 12 years or so," says Exclusive co-chair Nigel Sinclair. "It's difficult clearing music rights, but the hardest part is finding a way to tell stories of people who were larger than life but who often, personally, had things happen to them that were sad and disturbing."